Healthy Meals for the Sexy Working Babe by Health Guru, Carly Zuffinetti

Today she’s on the blog talking meal plans for the working babe. Oh, & BTW she just got married— how gorg is Carly in that dress?

I mean, DIE. Right?!

Ok enjoy, ya working babes:

I’m a school teacher & super busy at work so I have to be organized when it comes to food. If not, I will end up eating the yucky doughnuts, cookies, & bagels people leave in the teacher’s lounge.

NO THANKS!

It just takes a little prep work on the weekend to have healthy breakfasts, snacks, & lunches for the whole week!

Saturday or Sunday’s prep work:

>> Breakfast: Hot green tea & green drink:

I like to make only one or two days worth at a time so it’s super fresh, however, if I know I’m going to have a busy week I’ll make enough for the entire week by freezing it in glass jars. Make sure you leave room at the top of the jar so it doesn’t break in the freezer. Click here for information about freezing with glass.

Switch up the greens you use to every week to get a variety of nutrients. Also, make sure your green drink is at least 3/4 greens & then you can add apple, pear, banana or berries if you need a little sweetness. When I make one serving, I use at least two or three cups of greens. Lately I’ve been using chard, kale, spinach, aloe vera juice, cucumber, parsley, ginger, pear, & banana. If you feel you need more protein than the greens have, add a little hemp protein to your green drink.

>> Snack ( 10:00 A.M. ):

Since I only have about a fifteen minute break, I need to have something quick! I don’t like to eat the same snack everyday, so here are some of my favorite on the go snacks. I usually bring two snacks, one for 10:00 AM & one for 3:00 PM.

Nuts: I make my own trail mix using raw almonds and walnuts, pistachios, dried tart cherries, blueberries, and cranberries, and coconut chips. 1/3 cup dried berries for every cup of nuts. Sometimes I add a few dark chocolate covered blueberries to get my chocolate fix. You can get all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s. Store the trail mix in a container or gallon sized Ziploc bag ( it will stay fresher longer if you keep it in the fridge ). I usually make enough to last a three or four weeks. Just throw a handful or two in a snack sized Ziploc baggie or a small reusable container ( for portion control ) to take to work. ( Green tip: If you use a plastic baggie, reuse it as long as possible!! ). Trader Joe’s also sells the individually packaged, pre-portioned raw almonds, which are a good snack to have on hand.

Apples: I eat an apple a day, so if I don’t eat it at my snack time I will eat it later in the day. Pears, berries, oranges, peaches, or plums are other good options for an easy snack.

Hard boiled eggs: I usually peel the egg, put it in a sealed container or baggie, add a little salt and pepper, then it’s ready to eat when I only have a few minutes.

>> Lunch ( noon ):

I usually eat a salad everyday for lunch. It might sound boring, but it’s actually really delicious and filling if you do it right. Get creative with your salads, don’t think they are just lettuce! Here is one idea for a good salad that fills me up.

I always I prep my greens and quinoa at the beginning of the week. I chop my greens ( usually romaine but I switch them up ) and clean them in my salad spinner. I leave them in the spinner to store, which makes for super easy access, and I find the lettuce stays fresher and crisper this way. If I fill the spinner it is enough lettuce to make my salads all week. Then I make two cups of quinoa in my rice cooker, ( so easy! ) which lasts the whole week. I prep the rest of the salad every night, usually while I’m making dinner. I always switch up the veggies I add, but the quinoa and the lettuce are a must. Sometimes I will use black beans for protein as well. Lately I have been hooked on this salad- Romaine lettuce and quinoa in first, then chop some tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber and add that. Then I add Happy Pantry’s Power Krautage ^ their fermented red onions ( a few tablespoons of each ). Then I top it off with a half an avocado. So yummy! I always use the same container, a three cup pyrex glass container with an airtight lid, which keeps everything really fresh.

>> Pre-Workout snack ( around 3:00 PM ):

Sometimes I may not need a snack at this time, but I usually workout around 4:00 or 4:30 PM, so it’s a good idea for me to have a little fuel. I usually have one of the snacks I listed above, whichever one I didn’t eat in the morning.

>> ( Dinner varies daily ).

This is a basic outline of my food routine, it’s not the exact same every week, I try to get creative & switch it up a little each week. If you have a routine & organization, it makes it much easier to eat healthy and not overeat.

Wonderful post! I spend way too much time in the morning prepping smoothy and salad for lunch. This post has inspired me to prep in advance. I bought a salad spinner today and a salad bowl that holds dressing in a separate, but attached container for taking to work. Thank you!

Hi Cara,
I’m not a calorie counter. I know I’m getting enough calories (and not too many) because I am able to make it through my work day and workout effectively. I only bring what I should eat that day to work and I only eat at specific times.

Planning my meals really also helps me to know that I am putting the right amount of good calories into my body.

I think your blog is great and covers great topics BUT all the models you ever present on your blog and talk about are really skinny. Not that there is anything wrong with that but there are healthy “non-skinny” models too. If theres anything I’ve learned in terms of a healthy lifestyle it’s that you can be a crazy health guru but it doesn’t stop your genes from playing their role into your shape. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think you’re great and very inspirational but not everyone that is skinny is fit. You can find many curvy girls who are way more healthy and fit than a skinny girl. It’d be good if you could do a post about that, skinny doesn’t mean fit, exercising, taking care of your body and eating right IS!.